Tag: Dolphins

Not a Silver Linings Guy, But Despite the Loss, Mac Jones Gives the Patriots a W

By on • ( Leave a comment )

I was texting with a few buddies during the Patriots game and despite the backbreaking Damien Harris fumble and absolutely brutal way to lose a game, the most common exchange was “Cam Newton is never completing that pass.” And that’s not meant to dump on Cam Newton, who was by all reports a great teammate and team ambassador despite his middling performance on the field. But man what a difference it makes having a young, competent, and promising QB like Mac Jones on the field operating the offense like a vet.

Mac Jones wasn’t lighting it up and throwing for 400+ yards like Dak Prescott or throwing 5 touchdowns like Jameis Winston, but man he looked good. He looked smooth, he was never rattled (aside from that near fumble/lateral play) and he generally moved the offense down the field with precision. His passes were accurate and he frequently put the ball in places where only his receiver could get it.

And my god that wheel route play where Mac dropped it in a bucket!

*Chef’s kiss*

So while it was a heartbreaking way to lose and one that could seriously come back to bite the Patriots in the ass with it being a divisional game, I still came away from this feeling pretty good about where the Patriots are headed for the first time in a long time. Although I imagine Bill Belichick will be taking more of a Winston Wolf approach when it comes to doling out compliments in team meetings this week…

But if you’re a Patriots fan you have to be encouraged by what you saw on Sunday. For the first time in 2 years the Patriots were able to run an NFL offense. Granted, their $80 million tight ends weren’t exactly balling out, but the Pats are already nearly halfway to their total receptions by tight ends all of last season (18 catches) after ONE game (8 catches) this season. Mac did not play favorites, moved the ball around and hit 8 different receivers to keep the chains moving. The Pats definitely eased Mac Jones into the game with plenty of runs in the first half, but by the 4th quarter he looked completely comfortable and best of all he was MONEY against pressure.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

We don’t want to crown the kid as the savior after one game because there will be struggles as there are with any rookie, but the fact that the Patriots threw the ball 40 times Sunday just a few months removed from Mac’s last game at Alabama shows you just confident they are in the kid.

And while I think I speak for us all when I say we were a little concerned with his swag level after that awkward walk on draft night:

But in his first career start what song does he come out to? Mike Jones! (Who?) Not exactly Tom Brady and Hova, but going with a Houston rapper who was popping when Mac Jones was all of 7 years old is grade A, top level SWAG.

So while it’s unfortunate to be 0-1 and not take advantage of the Bills and Jets losing, after watching the way Mac Jones played in his first career game it’s hard not to have a feeling that eluded Patriots fans all of last year: hope.

Russell Wilson Rumored to Be On the Trade Block and the Patriots Aren’t Even MENTIONED as a Landing Spot

By on • ( Leave a comment )

How is one of the most successful franchises in NFL history that has a gigantic, gaping hole at the quarterback position not even mentioned as a possible landing spot for an elite QB that is suddenly and unexpectedly on the trade block? Whether it was Deshaun Watson, Matthew Stafford, Carson Wentz, and now Russell Wilson the Patriots don’t seem to be in on any of them. Regardless of what you think of each and everyone of those guys, all of them have played at an MVP level yet the Pats have no interest. I know in New England we have somehow fetishized “value” and take pride in our team not overpaying for anything. Well, sometimes you need to overpay a little bit or you get stuck driving a ’95 Civic with cigarette holes in the armrests because you don’t wanna pay for a premium for a gently used 2018 SUV with leather seats.

This team has a lot of holes so understandably Bill Belichick isn’t doing cartwheels when thinking about having to trade 2-4 first rounders for a quarterback. Yes, Russell Wilson will turn 33 next season so thats a consideration as well. But the larger point to be made is there have been some solid to excellent QBs on the market this offseason and there hasn’t been a single peep about the Pats. Are they really that against overpaying to solidify the most important position in sports? Well…probably yes, considering they let Tom Brady walk out the door rather than give the man an extension and some roster input. And Tom Brady these other guys are not.

But maybe it’s something worse…has the allure of the Patriots gone out the door with TB12?

It was widely reported that Stafford specifically said he would not play in New England and we all called him a puss for it. But Adam Schefter also reported that “the Cowboys, Saints, Raiders, and Bears are the only teams Wilson would consider.” So if the Pats don’t want to dump a handful of first rounders into one position I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I understand. However, if it’s more of players simply not wanting to come here then that’s a much larger issue.

Above all else, I just would like to see some semblance of a plan from Belichick. Whether that’s going out and bringing back the prodigal son in Jimmy G, trading up in the draft to get a guy like Trey Lance, or bringing on a bridge QB like Marcus Mariota and then drafting another QB late. Something tangible to build towards. But bringing back Cam Newton on a veteran minimum contract after he threw 8 touchdowns last year is not a plan. That’s just allowing your environment to dictate your actions. It’s time to make a move.

The Patriots Have No Shot at Deshaun Watson. I’d Still Trade Everything But the Kitchen Sink For Him

By on • ( Leave a comment )

In what has been the absolutely worst kept secret, Deshaun Watson and the Texans appear to be done as the Pro Bowl QB has officially requested a trade. I mean what did the Texans expect? They continuously bungled personnel and front office decisions and then tell their best player they’ll include him in decisions such as the hiring of the next GM. And then they hire Nick Caserio, who despite the past interest between both sides is someone who wasn’t actually on the list of the candidates their highly publicized search committee put together. Even worse, the move came at the behest of Petyr Baelish AKA Jack Easterby himself. I wrote about how bad things had gotten with Easterby in the fold last month and then Sports Illustrated wrote their second hit piece in just over a month absolutely demolishing the guy. Then the team tells Watson they’ll include him in the process of hiring the next head coach. And they completely ignore Watson’s request to interview Chiefs innovative Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy, only interviewing him after it came out how pissed the QB was. A terrible look. So last night the Texans hire 65-year-old David Culley who’s never been an Offensive Coordinator in the NFL. Then this morning Schefty was promptly announcing Watson’s trade request to make it all official.

Deshaun Watson at this point:

So Watson is going to get traded it’s just a matter of where and how much will it cost. Trading for a 3x Pro Bowl QB who is coming off an MVP caliber season and is still just 25-years-old is going to get EXPENSIVE.

But would you rather the Patriots try and find their next QB in the draft? With the departure of Caserio, who was Belichick’s right hand man in football ops and scouting for the last several years, I am even less confident in the Patriots finding elite talent. Now in the next breath it must be addressed that Caserio did in fact go to run the show in Houston where he is seemingly going to have to trade the best QB in franchise history as his first move. So does that familiarity between the two sides work in their favor or does it immediately kneecap the Patriots’ chances because Caserio doesn’t want to look like he’s doing his old boss a favor?

Another aspect to consider is Watson has a full no-trade clause, which is pretty rare in the NFL, so it will require not only making the trade but convincing the player too. This ain’t three years ago. New England isn’t exactly an enticing place for a player to join these days. With no tight ends to speak of and a receiver core that ranges from undrafted overachiever to first round bust, why would Deshaun want to come here? It’s basically the same situation he’s currently in.

Except the coach and the owner.

That’s their only shot. After years in the clown show that is Houston, he could come in and play for the best coach in the history of the game. Maybe, as was mentioned in that same SI article, Watson really, genuinely longs for a winning culture like he had back in Clemson. Well if that’s true, there is no better place than New England. Just a couple of years removed from their last Super Bowl win and actively looking for the next young guy to take the mantle of the most successful team in NFL history, with a Hall of Fame coach, and a well respected and beloved owner. That could be enticing to Deshaun Watson.

Now of course this all assumes the Jets, the Dolphins, or even the Jaguars don’t value Watson as much as I do and bow out of throwing a bunch of first rounders at Houston. Because the offers those teams can make would blow the Pats out of the water. Granted the Patriots are sitting at No. 15 and are unlikely to have any (according to draft “experts”) elite franchise QBs fall to them so I’m more than willing to trade that pick. But if you’re the Patriots you just got punched in the head with the reminder that if you don’t have an elite QB you are cooked right out of the gate. After 20 years of consistent play from a first ballot Hall of Famer under center it’s easy to forget that not every team has been so fortunate. So if you’re Belichick you should be calling the Texans right now telling them pick what you want and send over the paper work. Whether that’s 3 or even 4 first rounders I’m doing that 100% of the time. A franchise QB is just that valuable and yes the Pats need to fill some holes around the player, but thats something you worry about after bringing him in. With a ton of cap space to work with they could find a Tight End and a Receiver to fill things out alongside Watson pretty quick.

Realistically there’s not really any chance of landing Deshaun Watson so I’m just kind of daydreaming right now, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’d trade everything but the kitchen sink for him. Hell, throw that in there too.

Patriots Acquire WR Isaiah Ford From the Dolphins

By on • ( Leave a comment )

The Pats just made their big move of the deadline, trading a 2022 7th round pick to the Dolphins for WR Isaiah Ford, a 2017th 7th round pick out of Virginia Tech.

My initial reaction in GIF form:

Ford hasn’t exactly lit up the stat sheet with just 18 catches for 184 yards and 0 TDs on the season, but he is a big body at 6’2″ who should help the suddenly barren WR room in New England.

It’s hard to fault anyone for not being familiar with Ford’s work, but Belichick does have a tendency to trade for guys with multiple skillsets, and guys who despite modest stats have lit him up in the past. Ford checks both of those boxes.

It’s not an apples to apples comparison because he ended up being one of the best receivers in Patriots history, but there is a similarity to another player Belichick acquired from the Dolphins. In 2006 the Dolphins’ Wes Welker had 9 receptions for 77 yards, returned 4 kickoffs, and returned 2 punts against the Patriots in Week 5. Belichick was smitten and despite a 1 catch performance in the Week 13 rematch, he traded a 2nd and a 7th for Welker that offseason.

I was just looking at the numbers and good lord you forget just how prolific Wes Welker was in this Patriots offense. He had triple digit receptions in every single year except his first season back from a torn his ACL. 112, 111, 123, 86, 122, and 118 receptions in each year in New England. Preposterous.

Now obviously that is best case scenario and one of the greatest trades in Patriots history so thats not a fair comparison, but there are parallels. He’s even got some slick moves in the slot for a guy his size!

If you believe Schefty it sounds like the Pats plan to stick him in the slot while Edelman is on the mend, which makes sense considering thats where the Dolphins have primarily used him this year.

I don’t know what to expect from Ford, but some Dolphins writers were calling him the biggest steal of the 2017 draft. So there’s that. He’s not exactly a burner with a 4.6 40, but check out some of the positives from his BR scouting report.

Often, on his deep targets the defenders stay on his hip and he must make spectacular catches, which he flashes the ability to do. As he showed with his broad jump of 127 inches, Ford has explosive leaping ability that he uses to outjump defenders He has great body control in the air and near the sidelines, showing nice adjustments to the football. His combination of size, leaping ability and body control give him an excellent catch radius.

Now I’m not encouraging everyone to take their pants off reading scouting reports and watching college highlights because look how that turned out with N’Keal Harry, but Ford does have some impressive body control in his Virginia Tech highlights.

So it’s not a sexy name or a big splashy trade, but those are rarely the ones that wind up being the most successful moves in New England so I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.

Dolphins Announce Plan for Fans to Attend Games Amidst COVID-19 and Social Distancing Concerns

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Yahoo – Hard Rock Stadium can hold around 65,000 fans, but Garfinkel said it might be closer to a 15,000-fan maximum this season to adjust to social distancing and to keep everyone safe. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) currently recommends keeping six feet (two arms lengths) from other people and to avoid crowded places and mass gatherings.

The team would also schedule arrivals and assist with exiting after the game. The plans include fans being required to wear masks...The examples show colored spots on the ground to show what six feet of distancing looks like, not unlike what grocery stores have done near registers to keep from having a mass crush of people together in one spot.

Attendees would order food from their seats and leave to pick it up instead of waiting in line, just as people are doing elsewhere with curbside pickup.

I’m holding out hope for some semblance of sports to resume later this summer, but I’m not exactly optimistic. By all accounts, it would seem our best bet of sports returning any time soon is some form of games without fans in attendance. Even that has plenty of hurdles to overcome, most of which revolve around logistics. The NBA has kicked around the idea of every team playing a tournament in Las Vegas, while basically on lockdown in a bubble. MLB has considered restructuring leagues and having teams play games in just a handful of Spring Training stadiums to reduce cross country travel, but even that would require players to be away from their families for four months straight. So every story you read about how or when sports can return leaves me with a pretty bleak outlook.

However, a failure to plan is a plan to fail so teams are doing their due diligence and trying to figure out how exactly they could safely allow fans back in the stadiums.

The Dolphins came out with a proposed plan of how to safely bring back fans once the government gives the green light and it has a serious dystopian future vibe.

  • 15,000 fans allowed in the stadium (compared to 65,000 normally)
  • All fans required to wear masks
  • Order food and drinks from your seats rather than waiting in line
  • Staggered arrival times and exiting “much like a church environment, where each row exits so people aren’t filing out all at the same time in a herd.”

Before all this I was a borderline germaphobe, so I am not going to be one of the first fans jumping through hoops just to pay $200 to attend a game in person. Sports on TV would be more than enough for me right now, but you know plenty of people are dying to get out of the house and return to something resembling normal.

Who knows, maybe this becomes the preferred way of going to a game and it acts like a form of EZ-Pass. With just 15,000 people and assigned entrance times you could just breeze into town and right up to your seat. Anyone who has been to a Pats game in the last decade knows its a 3 hour tour just getting out of the parking lot and back home after a game. OR the demand for tickets will go through the roof because of the limited supply and we’ll all look back and laugh at how cheap $200 Patriots tickets were before COVID.

It’s crazy to think about how the next Patriots home game could look more like a college lacrosse game with less than a quarter of the seats filled, and have it not be because Tom Brady’s gone. It’s going to take a long time for things to return to normal, if at all, depending on how long the coronavirus lingers. So until then we’ll have to take what we can get as everything from our offices to bars and restaurants to concerts and games at Gillette Stadium slowly figures out how to bring people back together once again.

Last Night I Had to Root for the Jets. I Don’t Know How People Do This

By on • ( Leave a comment )

With the prospect of falling to 0-2 staring me dead in the face, I needed an extremely reasonable 8 points from Jamison Crowder to win my fantasy football matchup. For a guy that had 17 targets and 17 points in Week 1 that seemed pretty reasonable, except for the fact the guy that gave him all those targets was out with MONO. I’m not here to slut shame anyone, but you really put me in a shitty spot, Sam.

So with that being said I was tasked with watching the entire Jets game AND rooting for a backup QB to feed my guy. Naturally Crowder had a huge catch called back on a penalty and Trevor Siemian failed to impress all night. At least he was a guy with a few years in the league and 20+ starts under his belt though; that gave me hope for a touchdown pass. Welp, once he broke (probably) his ankle I was then forced to root for a 2nd year THIRD string QB in Luke Faulk who is apparently Chad Pennington reincarnated.

Meanwhile the “offensive guru” (Booger McFarland’s words not mine) Adam Gase just set football back about 50 years as he refused to call a play that didn’t involve Le’Veon Bell running the ball or Le’Veon Bell catching a screenpass at the line of scrimmage. The Jets apparently punted on the entire concept of the forward pass last night and were appropriately rewarded with a 3 point performance.

My guy Crowder? The guy I needed 8 points from? Yea he got 6.

HOW DO YOU PEOPLE LIVE THIS WAY??

PS – My other option was Kenyan Drake, the running back from the Dolphins that just got shutout 43-0 so no that wasn’t an option.

With Ryan Fitzpatrick Joining His Third AFC East Team, I Have Found the Perfect Group Halloween Costume

By on • ( Leave a comment )

I remember seeing this idea a few years back when Jaromir Jagr was playing for the Bruins en route to finishing his NHL career having played for 9 teams over 24 years.

Well I would say we’ve officially reached that point with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Everyone’s favorite gigantic bearded, wedding ring wearing, smart as hell, bridge quarterback will join his 8th NFL team in Miami this season. It also will mark him playing for 3/4ths of the AFC East. So who knows, maybe if he kicks around for a couple of more years he could complete the rounds and be a veteran backup QB to the next great Patriots signal caller? We can only hope.

So if 7 of my other friends want to create the greatest Halloween costume of the season, the Ryan Fitzpatrick group costume is the way to go boys.

Is Danny Amendola Destined to Rejoin the Patriots?

By on • ( Leave a comment )

I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to blog this because this scoop is coming from a twitter user that does not have the end all be all blue check mark, but you’re all smart people so take this with a grain of salt. According to our guy here, the Dolphins are already feeling some buyers remorse on the big contract they gave Danny Amendola just one year ago and may move on from him this offseason. I think we all can agree that Amendola was at his best, like most offensive players, with Tom Brady and was unlikely to match that level of production elsewhere, especially with a bum like Ryan Tannehill throwing him the ball. Amendola did have 59 receptions last year, but only 1 touchdown so its understandable for a team about to bring in a new coach and offensive coordinator (albeit former Patriots coaches) wanting to start fresh.

Couple that with this “Bold Prediction” from ESPN today saying they expect the Patriots to load up at the receiver position as they so famously did back in 2007.

Similar to 2007, when they traded for Randy Moss and Wes Welker, New England will bring in a few receivers following a season in which they were limited at the position. Whether that’s early in the draft, in free agency or via trade, the cupboard will be well-stocked.- Mike Reiss

I don’t know if I would categorize bringing back Amendola as loading up, but wouldn’t you love to have him as the 3rd or 4th receiver next year? Especially if and when Chris Hogan leaves in free agency? He was set to make $6 million in Miami this year so if he does get cut he obviously won’t be making close to that in New England, which could present a problem for a guy who famously took a bunch of pay cuts to stay with the Pats. And he didn’t exactly hide his frustration with Bill on his way out the door so this reunion may not be as automatic as some fans would like to think. I would welcome it with open arms though.

Counterpoint: Nick Saban is a Fraud

By on • ( Leave a comment )

ESPN.com – SANTA CLARA, Calif. — With stunning ease — and a freshman quarterback — Clemson toppled college football’s greatest dynasty again to become the first perfect playoff champion. Trevor Lawrence passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns and the second-ranked Tigers beat No. 1 Alabama 44-16 on Monday night in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

So I am actually going to lay out an argument here, and I implore you to stick with me.

Basically, I don’t think that just because you cannot successfully coach in the NFL, it does not mean you are a bad coach. However, I think if you are a complete and abject fucking failure in the NFL, it may be a red flag and something to keep an eye on. An analogy, for reference, is if you were to look at someone in the corporate world’s resume and after a steady climb they plateaued awhile back. They still achieve highly and work on important stuff in their current role, but never got to the next level. Why?

In the case of Nick Saban, there are no two ways about it, he was terrible as the coach of Miami. Not unlike that catchers mitt Pete Carroll with the Patriots, he could not understand the more subtle nuances of being a coach in the pros and it doomed the Dolphins while he was there. So he took his hair plugs back to the college ranks and Alabama, where he has run train on college football for the past decade or so.

So my argument is invalid right? If he’s had this much success in college he has to be a very high-level coach right? Wrong.

You see, during his time in college, Nick Saban, with his $5,000.00 suits and perfect diction has been an excellent recruiter. He woos people. He’s a good salesman. During his run of convincing half of the 5-star recruits in the country to come play for him at Alabama, he has had a pretty easy go of trampling his opponents in college football that simply fielded an inferior group of players, no offense to them. I mean, it’s basic probability when you break it down. Goliath beats David 9/10 times.

Unfortunately, Saban’s brute force luck has run out and now he has to contend with Dabo Swinney and a just-as-talented Clemson program. And what happens? They get run out of the fucking building. The team that is asked once a season if they could beat the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE’S BEST TEAM get’s seven shades of shit beaten out of them. Because as good of a recruiter as Saban is, he has proven to just not be that good of a coach. A poor executor who can’t make in-game adjustments. Because well, if you can adjust in game you don’t generally fail to score in the second half while your opponent drops 13 to go along with the 31 they dropped in the first half. You just don’t.

So there it is. You can trust Nick Saban to sell you a race car, just don’t ask him to race it for you. You can go through him to make it to the pros, just don’t always expect a National Championship. It might not happen. Not anymore.